


count your lucky charms

by versekiller



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, M/M, Reunions, cereal as a plot device, it’s purposefully vague, kind of?, mostly a happy ending though, thank god for minho’s cats, this was sadder than i intended oh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-12 15:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19135075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/versekiller/pseuds/versekiller
Summary: Minho finds a ghost from the past eating his cereal early in the morning. He’s never been more grateful for Dori’s peeing habits.





	count your lucky charms

**Author's Note:**

> this is unbeta’ed and barely edited because i wanted to post before i started hating it :”o so dont be too surprised when this is subpar

Minho wakes up with a cat in his face, meowing desperately. He groans softly and moves Dori to his side, sitting up to stretch and pop his joints. Between his general grogginess and the fact that it’s nearly pitch black in his room, Minho can deduce that it’s still the dead of night. He grabs his phone and checks the time. 3:17 in the morning- that would explain why he feels like he’s been run over by a truck. 

 

Dori has already jumped off the bed and is at the bedroom door, pawing at the wood in a request to be let out. Minho has no idea why Dori always insists on staying in his room at night, only to wake him up a few hours later trying to leave, but he’s never going to deny her a place in his bed. He wills his legs to not turn to jelly as soon as he bears his weight on them and stiffly waddles over to his cat.

 

As soon as he opens the door, Dori sprints towards the kitchen. This catches Minho’s attention; she always goes straight for the litter box in the laundry room first. While Minho’s not so concerned about that, he is concerned when he hears the cat hissing in the kitchen.

 

_Did somebody break in?_ Minho can feel his heart beating in his chest and he grabs the pair of scissors he keeps in his drawer and quietly, painstakingly slowly shuffles down the hallway to the kitchen.

 

Entering the kitchen reveals no intruders, but it does reveal Dori pressing back against the corner of the room, ears flat against her head, and a half eaten bowl of Lucky Charms on the counter. Minho definitely didn’t leave any cereal out before he went to bed- he’s almost positive that someone is in his apartment. Seeing Dori probably alerted them of his presence and made them hide. He bears the scissors in his hand a little tighter.

 

“Hello?” Minho’s voice is much shakier than he cares to admit. “I know there’s someone here. If you get out now without doing any harm, I won’t call the cops.”

 

“Um, hi.” Minho recognizes the voice and freezes. “If it were a real criminal breaking into your home, I don’t think trying to talk to them would have been the best idea.”

 

The sound of a door creaking rings out from behind him and he whips around, backing as far away from the source of the noise as the small kitchen would allow.

 

Minho can only watch mutely as Han Jisung crawls out from the cabinet underneath the sink. He rolls his shoulders a little when he stands up fully in front of Minho.

 

“What the fuck,” Minho whispers when he’s able to think coherently again. It’s more of a statement than a question.

 

This was _Jisung_ standing in front of him. The same Jisung that he had met when they were both still in college four years ago, the same one who had effortlessly wrapped Minho around his little finger. They dated for over two years and Minho was hopelessly in love with him. He had thought Jisung felt the same way. Apparently he had been wrong because here was the same Jisung who left Minho’s life without a trace nearly a year ago.

 

“So, uh, I didn’t know you got another cat. She scared me a little bit there, but she’s cute.” Jisung attempts an unconvincing little smile, eyes flickering around the room nervously. 

 

Minho doesn’t say anything, just continues to stare at the younger boy, and Jisung seems intent on filling the silence. He feels so many unnamable emotions bubbling up and putting pressure in his chest the longer he listens to the words spilling from Jisung’s mouth.

 

“There are so many cereals that are better than Lucky Charms, you know. The only good part is the marshmallows and once you eat the marshmallows all you’re left with is the gross bits… Are you mad at me? I really hope you’re not mad at me but you seem mad,” he rambles.

 

“Am I mad? Of course I’m mad!” The shock of the situation has worn off enough for Minho to finally respond, Jisung’s expression dropping immediately. “You broke into my apartment, ate my cereal, and hid in my cabinet like I’d be too stupid to find you there. Not to even _mention_ that you disappeared for almost a year with no warning!”

 

“Well, I was going to go talk to you in the morning and technically I didn’t _break in_ because I used the spare key under the mat, and I can totally pay you back for the cereal if you want—”

 

“ _Please_ be serious here! Just think about how I feel right now. I get nothing but radio silence from my own boyfriend for so long and then you just show up like you own the place. We aren’t even boyfriends anymore, are we? You didn’t bother breaking up with me but leaving my life completely gets the same message across.”

 

Jisung’s face reddens and his eyes turn glassy at Minho’s words. He walks forward and puts his hands on Minho’s shoulders. Minho tenses at the contact but Jisung looks up at him with such a desperate expression that he can’t help but pity the boy a little bit.

 

“Minho, I am so, _so_ sorry. You have every right to be upset and to hate me. But I need you to know that I didn’t want to leave you and if I could have contacted you I would have in a heartbeat. I really feel like shit for everything.”

 

Minho’s resolve cracks and he pulls Jisung into a crushing hug when he sees the first tear slip down the younger’s cheek. “Jisung, what on earth happened?” His voice is hardly above a whisper, contrasting sharply with his previous outburst.

 

“It’s a lot to explain right now,” Jisung chokes out. “I promise I’ll tell you as soon as I can, but not right now. I just— I’m sorry. I completely deserve it if you want me to leave or you want to call the cops since I’m intruding, but I really didn’t know anywhere else to go. I can’t go back there anymore. This is— _was_ my safe place. I swear I didn’t want to leave you, Minho. Please believe me.”

 

Jisung barely articulates the last sentence before he buries his face in the crook of Minho’s neck. Minho can feel his shoulders rattle with quiet sobs. Jisung seems so exhausted and so afraid. No matter how much he wishes he could hate Jisung, right now all he wants to do is keep Jisung far, far away from whatever caused him this distress.

 

“I can’t say that I forgive you or that things are okay, but I believe you. You’re still welcome here. I’ll keep you safe no matter what.” He threads his fingers through Jisung’s hair and listens as Jisung’s breathing returns to a regular state. “I missed you so much more than you know.”

 

Jisung lifts his head, his gaze meeting Minho’s and there’s a fire in his eyes that wasn’t present before. “I missed you too…” He inhales shakily. “I still love you. You don’t have to respond to that. Just thought you should know.”

 

Minho wishes he could trust the statement, but Jisung’s emotions are heightened and it’s far too easy to say things you don’t mean in the heat of the moment. He brings a hand to cup Jisung’s cheek wordlessly.

 

Minho hasn’t had the chance to really look at Jisung yet. He’s changed a lot in his year of absence. He looks far worse for wear- there are dark circles under his eyes, his hair is long overdue for a trim, and his normally full cheeks have lost some of their roundness. The boyish fat on his stomach has been replaced with lean muscle. He looks more mature too, _older_ , and not necessarily in a good way; Jisung seems as though he’s been through unimaginable harm and has caused just the same.

 

“Minho? Are you okay?”

 

“Sorry, Sung, I was just thinking.” Jisung’s expression brightens a little at the use of the familiar nickname. “I hope that you’ll tell me what happened to you so that I can help you, but I don’t want you to do that until you’re comfortable. The most important thing to me is that you’re safe and you feel safe.”

 

He hugs Jisung a little tighter before leaning back. “How about we just lie down and watch something to take our mind off of things for now? I can call in sick to work tomorrow and we can talk things through then, but it’s three in the morning right now and I’ll be lucky if I wake up before noon at this point.”

 

Jisung genuinely smiles at this and Minho’s heart does a backflip because _god,_ he’s missed Jisung so unbearably much. “Mind if I shower first? I don’t think I’ve smelled nice in weeks and I doubt you’d appreciate my grime on your bed.” 

 

“How selfless,” Minho deadpans. “Help yourself. You know where the bathroom is. All my drawers are still organized the same.”

 

Jisung winks at him and offers a quick thanks before heading down the hall to wash up.

 

 

 

They’re curled up in bed together after showers have been taken, Jisung gripping the fabric of Minho’s shirt and Minho’s arm thrown over his waist protectively, and a laptop is playing some shitty English comedy that Jisung likes. Everything almost seems normal except for the fact that nothing is normal at all. Jisung has been missing for eight months, now hiding from someone or something, and he’s terrified. Minho is terrified for him. 

 

But Minho also knows nothing of the situation and he won’t know anything until Jisung is ready to tell him. All he can do now is hold him close and whisper reassurances. He can at least give Jisung some peace of mind, no matter how little.

 

When gentle snores begin to erupt from Jisung’s mouth, Minho closes the laptop. He allows himself a small smile and brushes the hair away from the younger’s eyes. 

 

“Sleep well, Jisung,” he murmurs.

 

He presses his lips against the top of the sleeping boy’s head.

 

“I still love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> me: im not a huge fan of angst  
> also me: writes this


End file.
